Theatre Choice

“But faith in what?” asks Frank Hardy (Ralph Fiennes), an itinerant Irish healer who travels through the dying villages of Scotland and Wales in the company of his wife, Grace (Ingrid Craigie), and manager, Teddy (Ian McDiarmid). In constructing a narrative out of four contradictory monologues, Brian Friel puts the emphasis on storytelling, rather than dramatic action, in a testament to human frailty. His self-editing characters may well be incorrigible liars, but it is far more likely they are simply unwilling or unable to recall the precise truths of their sordid lives. Fiennes makes for a charismatic Frank, but while his rare moments of transcendence are entirely believable, the actor carries with him a patina of glamour that undermines his attempts to explore the more malign aspects of Frank’s personality. Craigie gracefully shoulders the heavy burden of introducing the melodrama that first reveals the extent of Frank’s delusions, while McDiarmid’s cockney manager is a masterpiece of comic timing. Jonathan Kent’s otherwise taut direction sags in the latter stages, a critical failure in what is essentially a philosophical take on the shaggy dog tale.